EMS EXPO 2008 Top INNOVATION Awards

By Mike Smith, BS, MICP

It makes sense that the best and most innovative products of the year would be on display at the world's largest EMS conference and trade show. Mike Smith scoured the exhibit hall at EMS EXPO in Las Vegas last October and came up with the following outstanding product innovations of 2008.

SUPER CHIEF SPARTAN FURION FROM BRAUN INDUSTRIES

Sometimes you just have to take a good thing and make it better, and that's what Braun did when they married their popular Super Chief ambulance design with the International 4300 chassis. Using the same platform that has been successfully used on fire apparatus applications to deliver a unit specifically designed for the emergency fire and rescue industry, it looks to be a great match. Having this "fleet similarity" provides several benefits by simplifying maintenance and repair work, which, in turn, saves shop-time and money.

     As with all of Braun's lines, the Super Chief has a SolidBody ambulance design, built as one integrated module from flat sheet, marine-grade aluminum. Full-contact weld seams with no separate extruded frame provide strength and stability to the Super Chief. The arched roof design allows for more headroom in the patient area, in addition to adding strength to the roof—a key factor if the vehicle is in a roll-over. The cab-over-engine design makes for a roomy interior (always a great creature feature) with outstanding visibility.

     A menu of standard options and custom features ensures that your Super Chief will meet your every need. Choose from custom storage cabinets with lift-up cabinet doors, a slide-out writing table, an EZGlide sliding door, or, if you want 'em… Corian countertops. Full piano hinges, deep track hardware and durable drawer slides keep doors and drawers operating smoothly and accurately for years of trouble-free service out in the real world of EMS.

     For more: www.braunambulances.com; 800/22-BRAUN.

SA-441M MAGFORCE MECHANICAL SIREN FROM CARSON MANUFACTURING

     You only have to pull up at a stoplight one time next to a car with a high-decibel radio blasting to understand one of the challenges of getting a driver's attention when your emergency vehicle is approaching. As you watch the quarter panels pulse in and out like a pair of metallic lungs, it's painfully obvious that you will need technology to win this auditory battle if you want to make your EMS presence known.

     Thanks to the folks at Carson Manufacturing, you can take the auditory upper hand in those situations with the SA-441M Magforce Mechanical Siren. This warning device takes siren performance to the next level by combining a classic mechanical tone and the new Carson air horn with the power of an independent, two-channel, 200-watt amplifier for maximum clearing output.

     The dual tone feature of this siren incorporates Carson's popular selection of siren tones and their new mechanical tone into alternating sweeps, which gives the perception of two sirens operating simultaneously to deliver a shockwave of sound that penetrates even the most sound-resistant vehicles on the road today.

     What really sets the M-series apart is the combination of a true mechanical tone and a "stutter" air horn sound. It eliminates the need for a bulky exterior siren, compressors, air tanks and tubing, saving space and some significant money while still delivering the auditory punch of that distinctive "big engine" sound that makes drivers instinctively pull over.

     The SA-441M can be operated by either a manual siren button or foot pedal if you wish to maintain continuous volume to clear out those particularly pesky intersections or get the attention of Rapmaster and his friends in the pulsating automobile. You get a five-year warranty from the folks at Carson with your M-Series siren. Since Carson was the original inventor of the electronic siren over 40 years ago, it's unlikely you'll ever need it.